Army Detachment Steiner (''Armeeabteilung Steiner''), also referred to as Army Group Steiner
(''Armeegruppe Steiner'') or Group Steiner (''Gruppe Steiner)'', was a temporary military unit, mid-way in strength between a
corps and an
army, created on paper by German dictator
Adolf Hitler on 21 April 1945 during the
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II.
After the Vistula– ...
, and placed under the command of SS-''
Obergruppenführer''
Felix Steiner.
Hitler hoped that the units assigned to Steiner would be able to stage an effective counterattack against the northern pincer of the Soviet assault on Berlin, but Steiner refused to attack upon realizing the units were inadequate, being made up of some soldiers,
Hitler Youth teens, emergency Air Force ground personnel, and Navy dockworkers. The only tanks available were approximately a dozen captured French tanks from 1940. It was the failure of this offensive that led Hitler to admit out loud for the first time that Germany had lost the war.
History
On the second day of the Battle of Berlin, 17 April, ''
Generaloberst''
Gotthard Heinrici
Gotthard Fedor August Heinrici (25 December 1886 – 10 December 1971) was a German general during World War II. Heinrici is considered as the premier defensive expert of the ''Wehrmacht''. His final command was Army Group Vistula, formed from t ...
, the Commander-in-Chief of
Army Group Vistula
Army Group Vistula () was an Army Group of the ''Wehrmacht'', formed on 24 January 1945. It lasted for 105 days, having been put together from elements of Army Group A (shattered in the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive), Army Group Centre (similarl ...
, stripped Steiner's
III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (the Army Group's reserve) of its two strongest divisions, the
SS ''Nordland'' Division and the
SS ''Nederland'' Division. He placed them under the command of ''
General der Infanterie''
Theodor Busse, commander of the
Ninth Army, as Busse had most of the other units in the III Corps. The ''Nordland'' was sent to join
Helmuth Weidling's LVI Panzer Corps defending the
Seelow Heights, to stiffen the sector held by the
9th Parachute Division. The ''Nederland'' Division was sent south-west of
Frankfurt (Oder)
Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (), is a city in the German state of Brandenburg. It has around 57,000 inhabitants, is one of the easternmost cities in Germany, the fourth-largest city in Brandenburg, and the largest German ...
and assigned to the
V SS Mountain Corps, where it was destined to be destroyed in the
Battle of Halbe.
[Beevor p. 141]
Heinrici ordered the III SS Panzer Corps, reduced to three battalions and a few tanks, to scrape together whatever forces it could find to set up a screening line along the
Finow Canal to protect the southern flank of the
Third Panzer Army
The 3rd Panzer Army (german: 3. Panzerarmee) was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942.
3rd Panzer Group
The 3rd Panzer Group (german: Panzergruppe 3) was formed on 16 November ...
from an attack by the Soviet Marshal
Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front
The 1st Belorussian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Белорусский фронт, ''Perviy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian") was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army ...
, which had broken through the
Seelow Heights' defences and was encircling Berlin.
[Beevor pp. 267–268][Ziemke pp. 87–88]
By 21 April
Adolf Hitler, ignoring the facts, started to call the ragtag units that came under Steiner's command "Army Detachment Steiner". He ordered Steiner to attack the northern flank of the huge
salient created by the 1st Belorussian Front's breakout. Simultaneously the Ninth Army, which had been pushed south of the salient, was to attack north in a pincer attack. To facilitate this attack Steiner was assigned the three divisions of the Ninth Army's
CI Army Corps, the
4th SS Polizei Division
The 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division (4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division) or SS Division Polizei was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen-SS during World War II. Formation
The division was formed in October ...
, the
5th Jäger Division
Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five.
Fifth or The Fifth may refer to:
* Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth"
* Fifth column, a political term
* Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...
, the
25th Panzergrenadier Division
The 25th Infantry Division was a military unit of the German Wehrmacht. It was later reclassified to 25th Infantry Division (mot.), and in June 1943 to the 25th Panzer Grenadier Division.
The 25th Panzergrenadier Division fought in the central s ...
— all were north of the Finow Canal
[To assign units on the far side of an enemy salient from their own command to that of the local command is not unusual. For example in the Battle of the Bulge General Eisenhower reassigned the ]US First
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (''FIRST'') is an international youth organization that operates the ''FIRST'' Robotics Competition, ''FIRST'' LEGO League Challenge, ''FIRST'' LEGO League Explore, ''FIRST'' LEGO Leagu ...
and US Ninth armies on the north side of the salient to the 21st Army Group
The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established in ...
(also on the north side), because it was now fighting side by side with the armies of the 21st Army Group, while its parent army group (the 12th) was on the south side of the salient with the rest of the 12th's armies. — and Weidling's LVI Panzer Corps, which was still east of Berlin with its northern flank just below
Werneuchen.
The three divisions to the north were to attack south from
Eberswalde (on the Finow Canal and 24 km (15 miles) east of Berlin) towards the LVI Panzer Corps, so cutting the 1st Belorussian Front's salient in two. Steiner called Heinrici and informed him that the plan could not be implemented because the 5th Jäger Division and the 25th Panzergrenadier Division were deployed defensively and could not be redeployed until the
2nd Naval Division arrived from the coast to relieve them. This left only two battalions of the 4th SS Police Division available, and they had no combat weapons. Heinrici called
Hans Krebs,
Chief
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boa ...
German General Staff of (
OKH), told him that the plan could not be implemented and asked to speak to Hitler, but was told Hitler was too busy to take his call.
When, on 22 April, at his afternoon conference Hitler learned that Steiner was not going to attack, according to testimony of his secretary, he was "silent for a long time", and then insisted that the women (she and Braun) should leave Berlin immediately (but they refused). He declared that the war was lost, blamed the generals and announced that he would rather stay in Berlin until the end and then kill himself.
[Beevor p. 275][Ziemke p. 89] After 22 April "Army Detachment Steiner" was little mentioned in the ''
Führerbunker
The ''Führerbunker'' () was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters ( ...
''.
[Beevor p. 298]
Order of battle
*
III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps
*
4th SS Polizei Division
The 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division (4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division) or SS Division Polizei was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen-SS during World War II. Formation
The division was formed in October ...
*
5th Jager Division
*
25th Panzergrenadier Division
The 25th Infantry Division was a military unit of the German Wehrmacht. It was later reclassified to 25th Infantry Division (mot.), and in June 1943 to the 25th Panzer Grenadier Division.
The 25th Panzergrenadier Division fought in the central s ...
See also
*
Eleventh SS Panzer Army, was part of
Army Group Vistula
Army Group Vistula () was an Army Group of the ''Wehrmacht'', formed on 24 January 1945. It lasted for 105 days, having been put together from elements of Army Group A (shattered in the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive), Army Group Centre (similarl ...
and was under the command of Steiner while it was fighting east of the
Oder River
The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...
during February 1945. The Eleventh was assigned to
OB West and reorganized (and given the command of new units) for combat against the
Western Allies in March 1945. Steiner remained in command of the III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps and it remained in Army Group Vistula, transferring from the Eleventh to
Third Panzer Army
The 3rd Panzer Army (german: 3. Panzerarmee) was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942.
3rd Panzer Group
The 3rd Panzer Group (german: Panzergruppe 3) was formed on 16 November ...
. As Steiner also commanded the Eleventh army during 1945, it can easily be confused with Army Detachment Steiner.
References
Notes
Footnotes
Bibliography
* Beevor, Antony. ''Berlin: The Downfall 1945'', Penguin Books, 2002,
* Ziemke, Earl F. ''Battle For Berlin: End Of The Third Reich'', NY:Ballantine Books, London:Macdomald & Co, 1969.
{{Subject bar, portal1=Military of Germany, portal2=World War II
Steiner
Steiner
Steiner
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
Battle of Berlin